Crosignani, Bruno and Di Porto, Paolo and Conti, Claudio (2004) The adiabatic piston: a perpetuum mobile in the mesoscopic realm. Entropy, 6 (1). pp. 50-56. ISSN 1099-4300 http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:CROentr04
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Abstract
A detailed analysis of the adiabatic-piston problem reveals, for a finely-tuned choice of the spatial dimensions of the system, peculiar dynamical features that challenge the statement that an isolated system necessarily reaches a time-independent equilibrium state. In particular, the piston behaves like a perpetuum mobile, i.e., it never comes to a stop but keeps wandering, undergoing sizeable oscillations around the position corresponding to maximum entropy; this has remarkable implications on the entropy changes of a mesoscopic isolated system and on the limits of validity of the second law of thermodynamics in the mesoscopic realm.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Additional Information: | © 2004 by MDPI (http://www.mdpi.org). Reproduction for noncommercial purposes permitted. Received: 23 September 2003 / Accepted: 15 December 2003 / Published: 11 March 2004 We wish to thank Noel Corngold for many fruitful discussions. |
| Subject Keywords: | Brownian motors; perpetuum mobile; second law |
| Record Number: | CaltechAUTHORS:CROentr04 |
| Persistent URL: | http://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:CROentr04 |
| Alternative URL: | http://www.mdpi.net/entropy/htm/e6010050.htm |
| Usage Policy: | No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided. |
| ID Code: | 2243 |
| Collection: | CaltechAUTHORS |
| Deposited By: | Archive Administrator |
| Deposited On: | 18 Mar 2006 |
| Last Modified: | 26 Dec 2012 08:48 |
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